Following Up: Jordan Sha:karónia Montour ’24, Goldman Sachs

What does impact look like in your career?

I came into my MBA with the goal of becoming an investment manager for Native American tribes. Coming from the Mohawk Nation, this is an immensely important cause to me, but also one requiring the knowledge and credentials of a rigorous MBA program like SOM’s.

In my post-MBA role as an investment advisor at Goldman Sachs, I plan to grow the scale of the firm’s institutional investment work with Indigenous nations. At Goldman, we have the latitude to pursue tribal opportunities nationwide, as well as access to world-class resources. My goal is to guide Indigenous nations along the path to economic self-determination and sovereignty.

What’s a lesson from Yale SOM that has helped you along your career path since graduation?

Get to know everybody! The relationships I’ve built are what will ultimately be the most important and lasting things I take from SOM. The diversity of backgrounds, personal and professional experiences, and perspectives at SOM is truly special, but it can only be appreciated if you go the extra mile to invest in your relationships. My career as an advisor is completely centered on relationships, so learning how to take a genuine interest in the people around you—a skill I fostered at SOM—will serve me well.

Have there been unexpected benefits from your SOM education?

So many, both big and small. There are obvious ones—the community, the Yale network, the professional doors SOM opens—as well as countless small ones. Being able to speak confidently among extremely smart and qualified people is one. Virtually all my SOM classes involved some public speaking or presentation component, and there was always someone (usually many people!) more knowledgeable than me in any particular topic. Presenting with confidence was a muscle I trained constantly, and it’s enabled me to feel confident entering any room and interacting with a variety of clients.

The time demands that come with being an MBA student also forced me to recognize the value of efficiency over perfection. I was a captain of the hockey club, a member of the rugby team, and a Private Equity/Venture Capital club leader. I also held an internship and a teaching assistant position, all while balancing school and social obligations. My classmates had similarly busy schedules.

SOM makes its students masters of time management. This has been so important post-MBA, when expectations are higher. SOM helped me understand that taking on a lot can be a good way of pushing yourself to accomplish more than you thought possible!

What are you passionate about in your work?

Institutional investing and portfolio management at the broadest asset allocation level is exciting, because I can help clients determine which industries, technologies, funds, and ultimately ideas are deserving of capital and poised to succeed in the world. It represents the privilege of being at the forefront of deploying capital as a catalyst for growth in areas that I have a role in determining. Hopefully, by helping to fund the right things I’ll play a small part in changing the world for the better.

On the flip side, it’s also so fulfilling to help mission-driven clients expand the scope of their impact through strong investment performance. Working with institutional clients like school endowments, nonprofit foundations, and Indigenous nations to grow their capital lets them effect greater change. Helping to financially empower Native American communities, nations, and people, an extremely underserved demographic in the investment and financial services industry, is a cause especially important to me given my own background. Institutional investing is fascinating work, and it’s steeped with meaning when your values are genuinely in alignment with those of your clients.